Is the PING G Le3 advert patronising to women?

During the final round of the Solheim Cup, as tension grew, the coverage was too often interrupted with adverts, much to the annoyance of many. But it was one advert in particular that got some people’s attention, including that of well known golf presenter and influencer The Jazzy Golfer. It irked her so much that she shared her thoughts via an Instagram story.

On Tuesday, after much discussion on her direct messages, she decided to share her thoughts with her Instagram followers to gain their opinion on the ad. Here was what Jazzy had to say:

“Yesterday I posted an Instagram story that caused a bit of controversy. It was about a TV advert on during the Solheim Cup break, which advertised women’s golf clubs as, quote, ‘to make the game easier’. I said I don’t remember ever seeing any other golf club advert that says they are specifically to make the game easier.

“We hear often, more forgiving, increased distance, more power, but easier? Now look. We all obviously want to enjoy the game as much as possible, and we, of course, need clubs that help our games, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s quite patronising to women to use that language.

“Would we see an advert about so called men’s clubs that say they make the game easier? Does it suggest that the game is currently too hard for women, and therefore, our only option is to have clubs to make it easy for us?

“And we’ll talk about whether we even need women’s clubs in another video, but I had so many interesting responses and discussions in my DMs. And so many different views from Jasmine, you’re overthinking it, to I totally agree with you to the language is off but the intention is good to saying that it’s an attempt to appeal to beginners and everything in between.

“I personally don’t love it and I think we can do better but what do you think? Was it patronising? Or am I just overthinking it?”

*I strongly believe that if you’re going to ask people to comment on something that you have seen, you should show the evidence and also name the brand. So in the spirit of transparency and to allow you to form your own opinion, here is the advert from PING which was released in July 2023. (Please note: the version that was shown on Sky Sports may have differed slightly but the sentiment and messaging are the same.)

“At PING we don't make women's clubs we make clubs for women. They're designed to make the game easier and each club is custom made to help you hit the ball higher, longer and straighter. Whether you're a lifelong player or a beginner. The new PING GLe3 family give your game the attention it deserves. PING play your best.”

Was the advert patronising to women?

If we take the PING women’s golf advert at face value a lot of what Jazzy has said stacks up:

• It could appear as patronising as it talks about making the game easier
• It uses simple language
• If it were an advert for beginners then why mention lifelong players?

I am not going to lie, I am not a fan of the ad but is it trying to be patronising to women?

The advert itself is for the PING GLe 3 clubs which are aimed at slower swing speed women golfers and are likely to be clubs bought by women new to the game but they can all be custom fitted. Of course, if you know nothing about PING, you can’t tell this from the advert but that may be why they say “make the game easier”?

If Jazzy’s argument had stayed at dissecting the advert mentioned then there would not have been any need to write any more on it, because it just comes down to how you feel when you watch the advert. However, in her Instagram reel she talks about never seeing other golf club adverts that used this language. By saying this, it widens the argument and doesn’t just become about this one advert alone.

In the spirit of due diligence, in the comments, Jazzy says that she looked for male equivalent adverts with a similar wording. Going by Google alone you’re unlikely to find anything, except the advert in question. Again, another reason to back up her thoughts.

But this is when you have to delve a little deeper and you find out that the phrase PING uses is the reason why you don’t find other brands using such wording.

PING - Making the game easier

You see, the phrase “to make the game easier” or “make golf easy” are terms synonymous with PING and have been used for a very long time (maybe since the start but I can’t verify that). They pride themselves on producing clubs that make golf easier for every golfer.

Take this year’s release of the G730 irons, the opening line of the press release says:

“Building on its commitment to making golf easier and more enjoyable through equipment innovation and custom fitting, the G730 iron – a distance-delivering, high-launching iron – has been engineered with score-lowering forgiveness and consistency.”

Comments that are then backed up by John K. Solheim, PING CEO & President himself:

“The G730 irons are engineered for golfers who can benefit from more distance and a higher level of forgiveness and consistency to shoot lower scores. The new G730 brings them all that in an easy-to-hit, confidence-inspiring design. It’s the longest and most forgiving iron in our current lineup and is a great solution to help maximise the performance of a lot of golfers. We’re excited to bring them an iron that’s engineered to make the game easier and more enjoyable.”

One thing is for sure, PING might want to think about the way they word their marketing to women when many do not know that women’s golf and the ease of the game is at the heart of everything they do. This is a perfect example where one line like “to make the game easier” can be easily misconstrued. But it is also important that anyone who is in a position of influence makes sure that they stick to the issue at hand, in this case whether an advert is patronising to women, and not escalate it into a wider golf issue which when you delve into it a little deeper doesn’t seem to exist.

*Update - Response from The Jazzy Golfer

Since publishing this article The Jazzy Golfer has been in touch to clarify that she did not name PING in the video "specifically because I have the highest respect for them as a brand and everything they've done for women's golf and therefore didn't want any unnecessary trolling or bad press simply because I took issue with the wording of one single advert of theirs."

I do appreciate this point of view but the not naming the brand due to the "highest respect" did not extend to her initial Instagram story, which many people saw and responded to. It was actually the mention of the brand here that brought it to my attention. Rightly or wrongly, I personally felt it was important to give the full picture on an advert that had been deemed to be patronising to women but on closer inspection it turned out not to be.